A typical media player (e.g., Windows Media Player®) employs a “playlist.” A playlist is a listing of one or more references to one or more media (e.g., video, audio, text, and/or animation data) segments. The playlist may also include information about the media segment(s), such as titles, authors, order of play, and the like. For example, a playlist may include a list of compact disk (CD) song titles. The media player presents the CD song titles to a user, and the user can select and play a song from the list of titles. Typically, each of the media segments referenced in a playlist has a start indicator and an end indicator, which indicate when each of the media segments are to start and end, respectively. When a start and end indicator are provided, the media player can use these indicators to facilitate sequencing through the media segment(s) referenced by the playlist.
In addition, in order to “seamlessly” transition from one media segment (e.g., a song on a CD) to another media segment referenced in a playlist, the media player can “preroll” an upcoming segment. Prerolling refers to loading an upcoming media segment while a current media segment is playing. Thus, the upcoming media segment is already loaded and ready to play immediately after the current media segment has finished playing. After the media player receives messages that prerolling is complete, and the current media segment has finished playing, the media player explicitly prompts the prerolled media segment to begin playing. Thus, there is a seamless transition from the current media segment to the next media segment, and there is no overlap in playing of the two media segments.
Some types of media are “continuous”, in that they do not have a definite end associated with them. For example, many types of interactive media, such as Flash®, are continuous. A Flash® movie is typically composed of a number of scenes, often animated, that are to be played repeatedly, while waiting for user input. When the user selects a specified location in the Flash® movie, the movie may change to a different set of scenes and/or prompt the user for other input. In addition, Flash® and other types of interactive media often begin playing automatically after they are loaded, without being prompted. For example, when a web page is accessed that has an embedded Flash® movie, the movie will load, and automatically begin playing, waiting for user input. Interactive media, such as Flash®, have become extremely popular for use in “web” pages on the Internet because of their interactive nature, and continuous and unprompted play. Thus, Flash® and other interactive media are well-adapted to implementation on web pages.
However, the continuous and unprompted nature of such interactive media has rendered such media ineffective or unusable in playlists. An interactive media segment without a definite end prevents typical media players from being able to prompt play of a subsequent media segment via a playlist and the media player will not play through the entire play list. In addition, interactive media that automatically begins playing after loading does not allow for the seamless playback provided by many media players because the media automatically starts playing after loading, regardless of whether other media is currently playing. Thus, much of the interactive media that has been developed for web browsing cannot be reused by a typical media player employing playlists. Unfortunately, as a result, many media developers have resorted to developing non-interactive media, which does not provide the advantages of interactive media, so that their media can be played via playlists.